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Introduction

Welcome to the Policy eColumn!

This eColumn and companion dialogue section are areas where we can share ideas, concerns, and analysis about policies that have an impact on music education.

Policy is not a content area in itself. Instead, policy deals with the operationalization of ideas. So just what is it?

What is Policy?

Policy simply means rule. Policies are the rules by which a society, association, business, profession, etc. is organized and expected to function. Policy stems from the Greek word polis meaning a Greek city-state, which was the organizing structure of Ancient Greek society. Other familiar words stemming from polis are 'polity', referring to the citizenry of a society; 'politics', which is the promotion of policy; and 'police', who enforce policy. Policy can be unwritten, as in cultural customs or norms. One who follows these customs is considered to be 'polite'. Essentially, policies constitute the organizing framework for a society. In contemporary multicultural societies, where various cultural traditions could potentially collide, civil policy is crucial to protecting society from Balkanization along ethnic and tribal lines.

All organizations have policies, whether written or not. In the educational environment policies range from international declarations such as the UN declaration on human rights stating elementary education shall be compulsory, to national and state laws, to local district and school policies, to a teacher's classroom procedures. Methodologies when prescribed by a body become policies and educational content and pedagogies embodied in a curriculum are most definitely policies.

Policy in education is so ubiquitous as to often become seemingly invisible to the teachers whose very instruction and professional lives are regulated by it. Teachers might look at the police force or military as very policy-driven professions with mandatory uniforms, hair styles, fitness standards etc. Yet on the battlefield or crime scene a soldier or police officer has a great deal of latitude to operate as he or she deems appropriate to the situation within broadly defined rules of engagement. A teacher, on the other hand, has a great deal of latitude in dress and personal appearance, yet his or her teaching is highly regulated through state standards, required curricula, mandatory textbooks, prescriptive methodologies, and standardized testing. The police officer and soldier are trusted to make life and death decisions while the teacher is often not even free to determine which books and methodologies best meet the needs of her students. Therefore, the understanding, scrutiny, and study of policy by educators is crucial to maintaining a civil society in which education plays a role in developing critical thinkers as opposed to indoctrinating the young. Teachers must be aware of the policies that regulate their teaching and the means by which to study and change them.

Policy Studies

Policy studies take the form of traditional research studies and employ historical, descriptive, quantitative, and qualitative methodologies to study the impact of policies and to make recommendations for changes to existing policies or for adoption of new ones. Policy studies can take three forms. One is to study the impact of extant policies, one is to study policies comparatively or from specific scholarly perspectives, and the third is to make policy recommendations based on research and scholarship external to existing policies.

Policy Impact. The study of policy impact utilizes traditional forms of research such as historical, quantitative, descriptive, and qualitative methodologies to determine the impact a given policy has had on practice. An example of which would be to study the effects national educational policies have had on education or the impact of various rules applied to school teachers. For example, one could compare two states with high levels of participation in music festivals where state A requires sight-reading as part of the festival score and state B does not. One could research the degree of sight-reading employed in each state's music programs. If teachers in state B employ significantly less sight-reading in their rehearsals one could imply that it is a result of non-emphasis on sight-reading at state festivals.

Policy Analysis. The second form of policy study is to analyze policies from various perspectives and make policy recommendations based on scholarly critique or research. One example could be to analyze policies from a comparative standpoint, such as Cathy Benedict's analysis of the US National Standards for Music as compared to those of other subject areas. Benedict compared the US National Standards for Music to those of other subject areas and made recommendations for changes based on that comparison.

Policy Recommendations. The third form of policy study is to make recommendations for policy changes or new policies based on concerns extrinsic to the organization's current policies. For example, Jones studied the implications of the knowledge economy for music education and made recommendations for curriculum and practices that would meet the needs of students and communities in the knowledge economy.

Bibliography

United Nations General Assembly. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 10 December 1948.

Benedict, Cathy Lynne Kassell. "Chasing Legitimacy: The National Music Standards Viewed through a Critical Theorist Framework." EdD Diss., Teachers College, Columbia University, 2004.

Jones, Patrick M. "Music Education and the Knowledge Economy: Developing Creativity, Strengthening Communities." Arts Education Policy Review 106, no. 4 (2005): 5-12.